Alyssa Maxwell Books

Description /Buy link takes you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.

Alyssa Maxwell writes historical mysteries. Her fans know the author for the Gilded Newport Mystery series, which isn’t surprising because she married into a Newport family.

Her love affair with Newport began long before she met her husband. When she was in high school, Alyssa would routinely visit the city. She loved everything about Newport, from the gas-light neighborhoods to the cobbled lanes.

She met her husband during one of those visits. This compelled the author to broaden her knowledge of Newport. Though, when she finally sat down to write the Gilded Newport Mystery series, she had to do research all the same because her understanding of the city was limited to what she had seen in the present day.

She had no idea what the city was like in 1895. This compelled her to delve deeply into Newport’s past to understand better the culture, traditions, and technologies of previous centuries.

Even when she was a child, Alyssa knew that she would grow up to become a novelist. Writing came naturally to her. She was always fascinated by words. Once she learned to read, the writing habit came soon after. Because she was introverted, writing gave the author an outlet, a means of expressing herself.

By the time she reached high school, it was apparent to those who knew Alyssa that she was destined for a career in publishing. She always excelled in writing-related subjects. But as she matured, Alyssa began to wonder whether her dream would ever become a reality.

Her doubts came from the fact that she had no idea how to turn her stories into proper novels. She was fortunate that she had a friend who successfully sold her first book.

When Alyssa revealed her publishing dreams to this friend, she dragged the aspiring writer to a Florida Romance Writers meeting. There, she joined a critique group and began her journey to publishing success.

Alyssa blames her love for history on her upbringing in New England, not to mention all the trips she took to Britain and Ireland. When she was young, the author was more interested in playing ‘Pioneer’ and ‘Castle’ than ‘House.’ She would often consume fiction and nonfiction works about women from the past.

Her love for history came together with her interest in puzzles to produce the historical mystery novels for which Alyssa is best known today. The author prefers to set her mysteries in historical settings because her heroines have to get by without modern forensic tools and technologies.

This makes the cases more challenging. Her heroines live in a world that wants them to present meek personalities. But they are strong and unwilling to conform to societal expectations, especially in the face of murder.

Like many of her peers in the mystery genre, the author creates a map of her plot and characters before she starts writing. Even though she crafts a synopsis beforehand, it keeps changing as she goes along. Her objective is to write up to 2000 words a day.

Best Alyssa Maxwell Books

The author writes two books a year. While she writes one book, she starts plotting the second one. Alyssa’s best novels include:

Murder at Ochre Court: Emma’s time at the Herald was disappointing. She returned to Newport intending to report on hard news. Cleo Cooper-Smith’s coming-out ball was hardly ‘hard news.’

But for the moment, she had to cover the event. Ochre Court had just installed modern electricity. Cleo couldn’t have asked for a grander stage. But then the ballroom went dark. By the time the lights came back on, Cleo was dead.

Someone had tampered with the wiring, electrocuting the young lady, and Emma was determined to find the culprit.

Murder at the Breakers: As a reporter for the Newport Observer, Emma did not have the clout to make an appearance at the grand ball at the Breakers. But she was a second cousin to Cornelius Vanderbilt, and her close connection to the millionaire was more than enough to earn Emma a place on the guest list.

When Cornelius’ financial secretary fell off the balcony, plunging to her death, Brady, Emma’s brother, became the prime suspect. He was passed out in Cornelius’ bedroom.

And unfortunately for Brady, they found the stolen plans for a railroad line next to him. To prove her brother’s innocence, Emma must find the person that framed Brady.

When Does The Next Alyssa Maxwell book come out?

The next book by Alyssa Maxwell is Two Weddings and a Murder and will be released on February, 25th 2025. It is the newest book in the A Lady & Lady's Maid Mystery Series.

Home » Author » Alyssa Maxwell

BookSeries.org